<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
 "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xml:lang="en" xmlns:epub="http://www.idpf.org/2007/ops" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Chapter 23</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet"
        type="text/css"
        href="css/style.css" />
  <link rel="stylesheet"
        type="text/css"
        href="css/media.css" />
</head>
<body class="content layout-paginated">
  <div id="chapter-23" class="element element-bodymatter element-container-single element-type-chapter element-with-heading">
    <div class="heading heading-with-title heading-with-image" id="chapter-23-heading">
      <div class="heading-contents">
        <div class="title-subtitle-block title-block-title-is-element-number">
          <div class="element-number-block">
          </div>
          <div class="title-block">
            <h1 class="title">Chapter 23</h1>
          </div>
          <h2 class="subtitle">Belah</h2>
        </div>
        <div class="heading-image-block heading-image-aspect-square heading-image-block-after-title-and-subtitle">
          <div class="heading-image-size-container heading-image-width-250">
            <img src="images/opheliabellsolodragon.jpg"
                 alt=""
                 class="heading-image-image" />
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="text" id="chapter-23-text">
      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-b">B</span>elah stared up into Nikhil’s face, defiant. She didn’t dare divert her gaze toward her unconscious lovers and betray that fresh weakness to this man. The scent of blood reached her from across the room, and it was all she could do not to tear free from her bonds and go to whichever brother had been wounded in the tumult of Nikhil’s arrival. All she knew was that they lived, their fresh marks and her bond to them enough to calm her fears. She preferred they remain unconscious for the conversation she was about to have, anyway.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I won’t go with you, Nikhil. Plans have changed.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I beg to differ, little beast. Finding you like this makes it even clearer how ready you are for me. Those two fools have primed you well—even better than your former pets once did. Remind me to thank them afterward for wrapping you up for me.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">He reached out a large, tanned hand and traced the edge of the ropes that criss-crossed beneath her collarbone.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah suppressed a flinch from his touch. She twisted her bound wrists behind her, intending to rip free of the ropes, but remembered Iszak had bound her with enchanted ropes she couldn’t break. She found she lacked the strength, or even the will to escape that dark gaze and the power Nikhil exuded.</p>
      <p class="subsq">His fingertips brushed upward along the side of her neck until he settled his palm at the front of her throat. Belah could only stare up at him, eyes wide as she swallowed, anticipating an action she had once begged for.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Nikhil only caressed her, stroking with thumb and fingers on either side of her throat while his other hand tested the ropes that still tethered her to the beams above.</p>
      <p class="subsq">As much as Belah had loved the way the ropes made her feel like Iszak and Lukas’s personal toy, now it felt like little more than a trap she’d been caught in, that the true predator had found her and was intent on playing with her before he devoured her whole.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Never moving his hand from her neck, Nikhil studied her bindings with open curiosity and even a measure of respect. He stood in place and slowly rotated her swinging body, one set of fingers following the lines of the ropes as though tracing the solution to a maze, while the other hand brushed warmly at her throat.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Once her back was to him, he made a low hum of appreciation, his fingers bumping down the ridged layer of ropes that coiled around her forearms, holding them against her lower back. His other hand slid back around to the front of her throat, strong fingers inching up to cup her jaw, fingertips digging into her cheeks as he forced her head back.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I could take you now, little beast. Fuck you slowly until you reached that crest, then take you to your favorite place.” His words rumbled hotly in her ear, sending spasms through her body that had once been arousing, but now only left her numb.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Belah strained harder at the ropes, but was still unable to shed them. The fury drained from her, leaving behind a sick, quaking panic. She twisted frantically, but Nikhil only tightened his grip on her neck and hooked his fingers into the swath of silken cords that crossed her belly.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“No…” she croaked when the generous bulge of his cock dug into her backside.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“No? But you agreed to a week. Seven days, my <i>‘Iilahatan</i>. Seven days for me to bind you to that altar I prepared and worship you. To show you that I never forgot what it means to kneel before a goddess like you, to offer up the blood and pain and darkness you crave. You still want that, yes? And when I’m done, I will take you to your son.”</p>
      <p class="subsq"><i>My son.</i> Belah closed her eyes against the tears. Only seven days—she had endured an eternity without the contact of a true lover, and had found an abundance of love in just the last few hours. Could she endure seven days of Nikhil’s punishment for the sake of her lost children? His very touch now made her wish she could close her spread thighs to counteract the feeling of vulnerability, but Iszak had bound her too well. Belah reminded herself that she had once loved what Nikhil had offered—his brutal strength and desire to inflict pain—the understanding that what she needed was an oblivion no other lover could offer—and the unquestioning willingness to fulfill every last dark craving she had.</p>
      <p class="subsq">It had been ages since she’d experienced the cravings she’d once had when she first took him as her lover—when she’d agreed to marry him. Yet she would endure anything if it meant being reunited with her babies.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Zorion and Asha were out there somewhere—lost to her and in the clutches of this madman. If all it took were seven days of being inflicted with his darkness, she would endure. She just hoped her mates would still want her when Nikhil was done with her.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Yes,” she whispered. Her tears flowed freely and the skin beneath his fingers was slick with them when he tightened his grip around her throat. She was grateful for the darkness that closed in around her as her consciousness faded. She could not bear being taken by him otherwise.</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>
